1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to devices and tools that assist in the winding of a line around a spool. More particularly, the present invention relates to devices that assist the manual winding of an optical fiber onto a spool.
2. Description of the Prior Art
There are many different applications that utilize optical fibers. In an optical fiber system, a laser source is typically used to generate a light signal. The light signal is then propagated through an optical fiber that is attached to the laser source.
In the telecommunications industry, solid state laser sources are commonly manufactured and sold as part of premanufactured module assemblies. In these modules, a solid state laser is attached to a segment of optical fiber. The optical fiber terminates at its free end with some type of fiber optic connector. In this manner, the laser module can be readily integrated into an existing electro-optical system. An example of such a laser module is the Laser 2000 Module, manufactured and sold by Lucent Technologies of Murray Hill, N.J., the assignee herein.
In co-pending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/172,283, filed Oct. 15, 1998, a support device for a laser module is disclosed. The support device contains a baseplate onto which can be attached a removable spool. The baseplate retains the solid state laser and optical connector of the laser module. The spool retains the optical fiber that interconnects the solid state laser to the optical connector.
In the use of such a laser module support device, it is difficult to manually wind the optical fiber around the spool without the optical fiber either unwinding from the spool or falling away from the spool. It is also highly labor intensive and time consuming to manually wind the optical fiber around such a spool. A need therefore exists for an assembly that can assist a person wind the optical fiber of a laser module around a spool.